Step right up, folks!
It’s a three-ring circus in NY-29 today! I can barely keep up. Luckily, Rotten can, but I think everyone agrees that we need to put our own smart-ass, opinionated spin on his dry, unbiased reporting.
In this ring, we have the D&C article about the protests, wherein Kuhl bravely asserts that he’ll wait to hear Petraeus’s report before he caves into The Decider’s wishes for at least one more Friedman Unit of surging:
Earlier this year, Kuhl voted in favor of Bush’s plan to increase the troop level in Iraq and has been opposed to establishing a withdrawal date. On Tuesday, Kuhl expressed skepticism of the troop buildup, but said he wouldn’t take a definitive stand until Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, gives a progress report to Congress in mid-September.
In this ring, we have a hard-hitting D&C editorial about the protests, which I will now describe in the only language D&C readers truly understand:
Thumbs Up For free speech.
Thumbs Down For protesters scaring Congressmen into packing heat.
And in this ring, we have another of Rotten’s terrific summaries of Massa’s weekly press conference. There’s lots of serious issues there — like the dreadful new wiretapping bill, which Massa opposes — but I’m sticking to the pistol-packing Congressman angle:
 I’m embarrassed by a Member of Congress telling the press he was [considering] packing, which is gansta rap terminology from carrying a gun. At no time did a citizen threaten anyone. They presented a petition and waited for Kuhl to come back. To say that the was threatened and he was [considering] packing is the height of irresponsibility in the use of firearms. I spent 24 years in the military training young Sailors and Marines in the use of firearms. [Our policy was] to never allow the use of deadly force without due cause, and [that it could be used] only if threatened to that degree.
It’s gangsta rap terminology! Paging James Lawrence….
)
The Randy Kuhl with guns story is front paged at Americablog. Good reading.
Massa’s interpretation of “packing” as a gansta rap expression is just one of the definitions. I personally think #3 might have been more of what Randy meant.
You know what they say: what happens in the Tier, stays in the Tier.
Thumbs Up For free speech.
Thumbs Down For protesters scaring Congressmen into packing heat.
And…
Thumbing nose at a system that has now learned what Progressive Blogging can do for your career!
Why the thumbs down for protestors? They were polite, nonviolent, and so on.
That Randy Kuhl could be so afraid of these people should deserve the real thumbs down. They’ve done nothing wrong.
Well, nothing wrong in an ethical sense. Civil Disobedience for the win!
And I think it’s important to rebut stereotypes, so see for yourselves, people. Those protesters weren’t weirdo hippies (though there’s nothing wrong with that), but are regular-looking, normal people just like you and me.
I’m not sure why the thumbs down for protesters who scare Congressmen and their staffs. It seems to be because the D&C thinks it is bad for Congressmen and their staffs to be scared.
[...] bring this up because of analogies with the war in Iraq. In September, Randy Kuhl and Tom Reynolds (and probably Jim Walsh) will vote to continue (and perhaps even expand) the [...]
Do I have to wear an armored vest for the next town hall meeting? LOL
You should send it to Iraq.